The Book High

I can't remember ever having a book make me feel like this before. Like I was getting to visit a place I've only ever read about, like returning to a mistily-remembered childhood home. And it was the most indescribable mix of nostalgia and joy and excitement and just pure delight. Like I wanted someone with me so I could grab her hand and rush around pointing and saying things like "and HERE, here's the garden of statues where Perseus killed Medusa! and over here are the naiads and dryads, and over here, this big lonely puppy is Cerberus!"

I still don't know how to put into words just how much fun this was. Told perfectly so that it honored the myths I grew up loving while making them fresh and fascinating and exciting. I loved that we were introduced to new people or places slowly so that if you were paying close enough attention you could guess where Percy and his friends were, or who they'd just met. And that names were only given after plenty of time to guess, so I could squee in delight if I was right or think "ooh, cool!" if it was someone I'd not ever come across before.

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were fantastic protagonists. They were each strong in their own way, and each had things they needed to learn, also. I loved the way they interacted with each other. And Grover's compulsive eating had me cracking up over and over again.

I'm kicking myself that I was snooty enough to put off reading this for so long. We study Ancient Rome as one of our history units, so I've had the privilege of introducing my students to some of these myths. This book will be fantastic to be able to recommend to them as a fun accompaniment to the actual myths, I'm only sorry I didn't read it in time to recommend to my last two classes.

Favorite Quotes:
Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour.

"And do you know what full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"
"Bad?" I guessed.
"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."
"Bad," I repeated.

For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day.

"For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"
I stared at her. All I could think to say was: "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"
She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me."

"Die human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!"